The Grinder restaurant in San Pedro on Tuesday, May 21, 2019. The restaurant, which has been a fixture in San Pedro for decades is closing for good on Feb. 14. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

For nearly half a century locals have been coming to the Grinder, a classic old school diner in San Pedro located by the waterfront, to grub on big breakfast dishes, house specialties like the Buffalo Burger and to just hang out, have a cup of coffee and chat up the staff or other regulars.

But many local hearts will be broken on Valentine’s Day when the 4,200-square-foot restaurant, which is decked out in blue vinyl booth benches and gold accents, serves its last meal before closing for good on Feb. 14.

“It’s very sad but I think everything has to come to an end,” said Petra Ryan, daughter of owner Bert Blender.

“It’s the end of a very long stretch and I think it will be missed. But like I said everything comes to an end, and it’s our end in San Pedro,” said Ryan, who has worked in the family business for more than 20 years.

The restaurant, which is part of a once much larger chain launched in Santa Fe Springs in 1968, is closing its San Pedro location, which has been around for at least 40 years, to make way for a residential development that will include ground-floor businesses, Ryan said.

The family owned the property, but at 81 years old her father just wanted to retire and made the decision to sell to a developer, she added.

“He was ready for retirement and he had the opportunity to sell it to a company that’s going to build what he thinks is going to be a beautiful building and have businesses at the bottom, including a restaurant. And we thought that would be something nice for San Pedro,” Ryan said.

After decades in business, San Pedro diner the Grinder will close its doors for good on Feb. 14. Restaurant employee Bertha Romero has been working here for 16 years. (Photo by Richard Guzman).

Since there’s a sign posted at the door about the closure, regulars such as Rancho Palos Verdes residents Carolyn Hager and her mother Margaret Grosso, who have been coming to the Grinder for five years, already know their meals here are numbered.

“I’m sad. It’s good food, good employees. They pretty much know what I want (to eat and drink)…I’m definitely going to miss it,” Hager said as she sat at a table with her mom three days before the upcoming closure.

For longtime employees such as Bertha Romero, who has been working at the restaurant for 16 years, the closure not only means she’s out of a job, but she’ll also miss a lot of the regulars.

“I’m a little sad but what can you do? Our regulars are sad too and they’re going to miss this place and we’ll miss them,” she said in Spanish.

While the Grinder has stood at this spot for decades, the area near the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Fifth Street across from the Battleship Iowa is now quickly changing.

Last year developer developer Raffi Cohen of Galaxy Commercial Holdings submitted plans to the city of Los Angeles for a 137-unit apartment building, at 511 S. Harbor Blvd., where the Grinder is located.

There is already a 375-unit apartment project under construction next to the property at 550 S. Palos Verdes St.

At the height of the chain, the Grinder was part of close to two dozen restaurants located throughout Southern California.

Once the San Pedro location closes there will only be one Grinder left in Los Angeles at 525 W. 28th St. There are no current plans to close that location, Ryan said.

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